Archeology of the Kingdom of God, The, by Jean-Marc Lepain (2015). Analysis of the spiritual worlds as depicted in philosophical and religious texts, from ancient the Greek to Jewish, Christian and Muslim thought, contrasted with the theosophy, metaphysics, anthropology, and hermeneutics of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha. [about]

Behold the Man: Baha'u'llah on the Life of Jesus, by Juan Cole, in Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 65:1 (1997). Baha'u'llah's lessons from the Judeo-Christian experience for founding a new, post-Islamic religion; invoking Christ to illuminate contemporary situations within Babi-Bahá'í history; implications for his relations with Middle Eastern Christians. [about]

Biblical Verses, Interpretation of, by Universal House of Justice (1986). Interpretation of Biblical verses. Includes chart showing all references in the Baha'i writings to verses in the Book of Revelation. [about]

Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, The, by Universal House of Justice (1966). Passages from a letter on the relationship between the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, the timing of the election of the House, the lack of a will by or a successor to the Guardian, and the House's ability to function on its own. [about]

Interpretation and the Guardianship, by Ian C. Semple, in Lights of Irfan, 6 (2005). Two versions of a talk presented at a seminar in Haifa, 1984, on differences between personal interpretation, authoritative interpretation, divinely guided legislation, and the role of the Guardian as interpreter [about]

Interpretation in the Bahá'í Faith, by Juan Cole, in Bahá'í Studies Review, 5:1 (1995). The Bahá'í writings contain a complex and nuanced set of prescriptions for the interpretation of scripture. Before examining them, the very idea of "interpretation" must be clarified. [about]

Notes on Words of the Guardian, by Virginia Orbison (1956). Ten pages of notes, preserved as an appendix to Orbison's lengthy manuscript "Diary of a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Made by Virginia Orbison, January 15 to February 11". [about]

Power and the Bahá'í community, by Moojan Momen, in Lights of Irfan, 19 (2018). While Baha'i social teachings may have sounded new and exciting a century ago, that is no longer the case today. The problem the world faces is not in the principles that would lead to a better society, but in their application. [about]

Proselytizing, Development, and the Covenant, by Universal House of Justice, in Messages from the Universal House of Justice: 1963-1986, The Third Epoch of the Formative Age (1996). Teaching vs. proselytization; applying Baha'i social teachings without becoming ensnared in prevailing cultural mores; and the uniqueness of the Baha'i covenant. [about]

Religious Authority and Apocalypse: Tafsír as Experience in an Early Work by The Báb, by Todd Lawson, in Unity in Diverity: Mysticism, Messianism and the Construction of Religious Authority in Islam, ed. Orkhan Mir-Kasimov (2013). Analysis of the Báb's commentary on the Qur'an's longest chapter, Surat al-baqara, regarded as his first significant work, which includes themes such as divine self-manifestation, the hierarchy of existence, eschatology, and religious authority. [about]

Tablet on Interpretation of Sacred Scripture (Ta'wíl), by Bahá'u'lláh (2001). An undated tablet from the Akka period on the interpretation of sacred scripture, with references to previous Tablets revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas,Asl-i-Kullu’l-Khayr (Words of Wisdom) and Lawh-i-Maqsúd (Tablet of Maqsúd). [about]

Universal House of Justice's Power of Elucidation, The, by Universal House of Justice, in Messages from the Universal House of Justice: 1963-1986, The Third Epoch of the Formative Age (1996). Clarification about the qualitative difference between the Guardian's prerogative of interpretation and the power of elucidation of the Universal House of Justice. [about]